Item Twelve: Promptly and Accurately Identify the Various People, Events, and Things That Disrupt and Disturb God’s Work and the Normal Order of the Church; Stop and Restrict Them, and Turn Things Around; Additionally, Fellowship the Truth So That God’s Chosen People Develop Discernment Through Such Things and Learn From Them (Part Six)

The Various People, Events, and Things That Disrupt and Disturb Church Life

X. Spreading Baseless Rumors

At the last gathering, we fellowshipped on the twelfth responsibility of leaders and workers: “Promptly and accurately identify the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church; stop and restrict them, and turn things around; additionally, fellowship the truth so that God’s chosen people develop discernment through such things and learn from them.” For the various people, events, and things that disrupt and disturb God’s work and the normal order of the church which appear in church life, we divided these up into eleven issues. Read them again. (First, often going off topic when fellowshipping the truth; second, speaking words and doctrines to mislead people and win their esteem; third, prattling about domestic matters, building personal connections, and handling personal affairs; fourth, forming cliques; fifth, vying for status; sixth, engaging in improper relationships; seventh, engaging in mutual attacks and verbal spats; eighth, spreading notions; ninth, venting negativity; tenth, spreading baseless rumors; and eleventh, manipulating and sabotaging elections.) Last time, we fellowshipped on the ninth issue. Today, we will fellowship on the tenth—spreading baseless rumors.

A. The Manifestations of Spreading Baseless Rumors

Incidents of spreading baseless rumors have occurred in the church. Some people do not love the truth and do not focus on practicing the truth in the performance of their duty; whether in matters related to the truth principles or in their personal pursuits, they do not focus on seeking the truth—these focuses have no place in their hearts. In their belief in God, they just like to inquire about gossip and personal information, and collect strange and unusual stories. Of course, what they are more enthusiastic about is prying into matters related to God and God’s work, as well as matters concerning God’s house and the leaders and workers of the church. At the same time, they like to baselessly spread gossip, disseminating things that they have heard or imagined which are not true at all. Such people do not like reading God’s words, they rarely pray, and during gatherings they seldom fellowship the truth and rarely talk about their own state, personal pursuits and entry, or their understanding of God’s work, and so on. Of course, they are not interested in those who fellowship the truth or fellowship on their experiential testimony, nor in these matters. However, as soon as they hear someone talking about what point God’s work has reached, or see content in God’s words about disasters, people’s destinations, God changing His form, and so on, their eyes suddenly light up, and they become particularly focused. As soon as they read or hear these words, their interest is immediately piqued. Judging from the manifestations of these people, it is clear that they do not believe in God to pursue the truth, or to do their duty and follow God, and certainly not to submit to and worship God. They come to God’s house and put no thought into doing any duties at all. They only want to pry into and collect some gossip or spread some rumors. They take pleasure in these activities and have no interest whatsoever in the experiential testimonies, hymns, or movies of God’s house. They just like to go online to gather the statements and assessments that antichrist forces in the religious community make about God’s house, the church’s work, and God incarnate. Even if they occasionally look at videos from God’s house, it is not out of an internal longing to seek the truth to solve their own problems. So, what do they look at? They look at the comments under the videos, and they are selective about what they read. They skip over the comments from the brothers and sisters of the church but are particularly interested in the comments from the religious community and nonbelievers. They even specifically look at comments and statements from the great red dragon, trying to discover some things from them. When they see these negative propaganda, statements, and fabricated rumors, they do not seek the truth and discern them; instead, they can even accept some of these negative remarks and statements, and regard them as facts. No matter how many positive comments there are, they are unwilling to read them and do not believe they are true; only those negative comments or rumors attract their attention and whet their appetite. Every time they see these negative comments, they feel very pleased and comforted inside. They are especially interested in the totally untrue rumors and judgments, and even the attacks and slanders against God, that are circulating in the world, in the religious community, or online, and they always study and collect these diligently. By contrast, they have no interest at all in God’s words, sermons and fellowships, the experiential testimonies of the brothers and sisters, and other such things. So, when others read God’s words, fellowship the truth, and share experiential testimony during gatherings, they feel averse, and find these things bothersome and superfluous. In their hearts they are particularly averse to fellowship on the truth and talk of knowing oneself. So, what do they want to hear? They only want to hear strange and bizarre things, whether they are mysteries from the spiritual realm or rumors and gossip circulated by the religious community—they are just willing to listen to these things. Their hearts are filled and occupied with these negative things, and no one can take these negative things from them or divest them of these negative things. Why is this? It is because they are too interested in and fond of them! Therefore, when they are among the brothers and sisters, especially during gatherings, they like to talk about some baseless gossip, and even spread some negative comments about God’s house and the church that they find online. These people are extremely interested in these rumors. Even though they clearly know that spreading these things is not beneficial to others, they cannot control themselves and insist on spreading them. Even if they need to look for opportunities to spread these rumors and negative propaganda, or they need to spend time collecting such things, or use their minds to fabricate such things, they are still tirelessly enthusiastic about this. If, in a church, the church leaders have poor caliber and cannot do real work or discern people, then once there are people spreading rumors and fallacies, church life will be disturbed and affected, and some people will even be misled and controlled by these individuals. Why can many people often be disturbed and misled by others? One reason is that they do not understand the truth and have no discernment regarding the rumors that slander God’s house. Another is that some brothers and sisters who have only believed for a short time have immature stature, they do not understand the truth of visions, and they are hazy about God’s incarnation, God’s work of judgment in the last days, and God’s intention to save people, they are unable to see these things clearly, and they are uncertain whether this stage of work is God’s appearance and work. Consequently, they do not have true faith and do not even know how long they will be able to follow God. Naturally, they are also very easily misled, swayed, and controlled by those who spread rumors.

B. The Essence of Spreading Baseless Rumors Is Acting as a Servant of Satan

These people who spread baseless rumors not only do not believe in the truth and God’s words, but they also cannot discern right from wrong. They are always doubtful of positive things and are easily convinced by rumors and devilish words. These people claim to believe in God and follow God, but they still spread rumors that slander God and the church, and they spread the various rumors they have collected to the brothers and sisters, even wantonly and repeatedly spreading them and publicizing them everywhere. From this it is clear that these people do not love the truth and only believe the devilish words of nonbelievers. Strictly speaking, they are not God’s chosen people at all and they are not members of God’s house. So, what are they? To be precise, these people are disbelievers, they are servants of Satan. Some people say, “Are Satan’s servants spies sent by the CCP? Are they agents infiltrating God’s house?” Not necessarily. Those agents and spies are easy to discern, but these people who spread rumors appear to be true believers on the surface. However, they do not pursue the truth and often act as mouthpieces for Satan, and in Satan’s stead they spread words that slander and attack God, and spread the rumors that it fabricates about the church and God’s house. Judging based on this, regardless of who sent them, aren’t these people servants of Satan? (Yes.) Whether these rumors were actively collected by them or passively heard by them, these people do not think about seeking the truth and discerning them, but instead believe them as facts. They can even unscrupulously and unrestrainedly spread and disseminate them among people, and not just in one place or on one kind of occasion. Their purpose in spreading these rumors is to make more people aware of them, to make the weak even weaker, and to make those who are strong and have faith in God doubt Him and His work because of the rumors—it is to make everyone uninterested in the truth, in God’s words, in God’s work, and in being saved, and instead make them interested in various rumors and negative propaganda, just like these individuals themselves are, so that then, whenever people gather, they will talk about these negative things. Would normal people and people with humanity and reason do such things? When most people hear rumors or various negative propaganda, even if they do not know whether the rumors are true or false, because of their faith in God and the bit of a God-fearing heart they have, they will come before God to pray and seek the truth. Even if they are influenced by the rumors and feel a bit weak and doubtful, it will not affect their performance of their duty or their following of God. They will even warn themselves to guard their tongues and avoid doing things that resist or offend God. This kind of approach is something that most brothers and sisters can achieve. As long as people have some humanity, a bit of genuine faith, and a bit of a God-fearing heart, they can achieve this. Since people believe God exists, they should believe that everything God does is correct. Since it is done by God, people should not make any assessments about it. They should be certain that: “No matter what the rumors from outside the church say, I cannot believe them, and I certainly cannot spread them. Even if I feel a bit weak and shaken in my heart, I must not deny the existence of God!” If one believes in God’s existence, they should believe that everything God does is correct; if they believe in God’s existence, they should have a heart that is scared of and fears God—this is absolutely right. Because they have a God-fearing heart, no matter what rumors they hear, they will guard their tongues, not become spreaders of rumors, not be taken in by Satan’s ruses, and not fall for Satan’s schemes. Isn’t this something that most people can easily achieve? (Yes.) You possess normal thinking and reason, so when you hear rumors, whether you then spread them or not is entirely determined by you. Is anyone else controlling you? (No.) So, after hearing these rumors, shouldn’t people be clear about how they should handle them, and how they should treat them and practice so as to accord with the principles, and with humanity and reason? Everyone should have this bit of judgment and should understand this method and path of practice without needing others to teach them. Even children know not to spread gossip, and that it is disrespectful, immoral, and sows dissension, and that one should not be this kind of person; these are the thoughts and behavior that people with normal reason should possess. However, there is a type of person who lacks such reason and, to an even greater extent, lacks such humanity. This leads them to want to spread rumors and negative propaganda to those close to them as soon as possible after hearing these things, so that everyone can analyze, judge, and embellish them together, and then spread these rumors to a wider audience. They think, “Isn’t this great? Isn’t this lively? If church life were filled with this content, how rich it would be! People would gain so much knowledge!” What kinds of thoughts and viewpoints are these? Aren’t these the thoughts and viewpoints of a bad person? What kind of logic is this? Aren’t they someone who is desperate for chaos? Isn’t it that they can’t stand to see others doing well? In their heart, they even mock brothers and sisters: “You fools, rumors are flying all over the place outside the church; negative evaluations, attacks, and slanders against God’s house, especially against Christ and God’s work, are everywhere. In the churches of the religious community, all kinds of negative propaganda materials are hung up. As soon as people there hear ‘Eastern Lightning,’ they start to hurl condemnations and distance themselves. Everyone is criticizing and condemning you, yet you fools are still here believing in God and pursuing the truth!” Seeing these people following God with such firm faith makes them uncomfortable and also very repulsed. In particular, when they see that someone’s fellowship on the truth demonstrates genuine understanding and a change in disposition, and that everyone admires them, they hate that person. If they see someone holding to the principles, getting results, and showing loyalty in the performance of their duty in God’s house, they get angry and say, “Why don’t you listen to the rumors or to the propaganda from outside the church? Why are you so foolish and sincere? Look how shrewd I am—I have a foot in both camps. I participate in the church life of God’s house and I don’t say that I don’t believe in God, and if I wasn’t allowed to do a duty, I wouldn’t consent to that, but I also pry into the news from outside the church. I continue to pay attention to the negative propaganda and comments from the religious community, the world of nonbelievers, and the internet.” They always have an improper viewpoint. Seeing the brothers and sisters pursuing the truth and doing their duties makes them feel dissatisfied inside. They always want to mislead and draw away one or two of those people, and even constantly want to disturb and influence some of them. They also constantly wish to “awaken” some people by spreading rumors, so that they believe in the rumors and get misled. Tell Me, just what kind of person is this? Is it appropriate to regard such people as part of God’s house and as brothers and sisters? (No.) Then what is the most appropriate way to regard them? It is most appropriate to regard them as disbelievers, as servants of Satan. This is not ungrounded condemnation or wronging them; it is a fact.

What is detestable about these people who spread baseless rumors? Regardless of what channel they hear negative propaganda from, even when they clearly know that it is rumors and devilish words without any factual basis, they still spread them to others with tireless enthusiasm. What is the nature of this? Someone with a God-fearing heart will feel repulsed when they hear rumors. Especially when it comes to words that attack and insult God, they will not mention them at all to avoid defiling their mouth, which proves they have a God-fearing heart. They say, “Others judging and slandering God, and attacking and denigrating the church, is their business. I should not partake in their sins. Their slander of God is already an outrageous rebellion and a heinous sin—I cannot speak these words with my own mouth. I must not say the same things as them. I absolutely will not do this!” However, those who are Satan’s servants can recount negative propaganda and rumors they hear word for word, and they do so repeatedly and without any misgivings, even spreading them everywhere. Do these people have the slightest bit of a God-fearing heart? Are they scared of God? No, they are not. On the surface, they also believe in the existence of God, but believing does not equal acknowledging that God is the Creator who holds sovereignty over all things. Satan also believes that there is a God in the world and in the universe and among all things, but how does it treat God when He speaks to it? How does it converse with God? Does it have a God-fearing heart? Does it treat God as God? No. What method does it use to converse with God? It tests, deceives, and ridicules Him, as if joking around. When God asked, “From where come you?” how did Satan reply? (“From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it” (Job 1:7).) Are these human words? (No.) So, what do these words mean? Why did Satan speak in this way? What kind of attitude produces such words? Isn’t it one of ridicule? (Yes.) What does ridicule mean? It’s messing with someone, right? “I’m not going to tell you where I came from. What can you do about it?” Satan spoke to God, but it didn’t intend to let Him know what was really going on—it was refusing to tell Him that, and it was just messing with Him instead. This is ridicule. Does this attitude show any sense of treating God as God? Is there any sense of respecting or fearing God in it? Not at all—this is the face of Satan. Those who spread rumors can casually disseminate them among the brothers and sisters. They know full well that these rumors are not factual, yet they do their utmost to spread them, looking for every kind of opportunity and occasion to do so. Is this not the behavior and approach of Satan? This is how Satan acts. It acknowledges the existence of God and knows that God holds sovereignty over all things, but it has not the slightest fear of Him. This is the face of Satan, it is Satan’s nature essence. Some brothers or sisters may say, “Although this person does not pursue the truth, his belief in God is sincere. When he heard that the church was going to isolate or clear him out, he became so anxious that he cried and got very worried; he even developed mouth sores! He is unwilling to leave God’s house; he believes in the existence of God. So, no matter what he does, we should treat him as a brother, and give him love and tolerance, and even when he spreads rumors, we should still treat him with love to help and support him.” Are these words correct? Are they the truth? (No.) God has spoken so many words, but these people still do not believe them. And yet, no matter how many rumors devils and Satans utter, these people believe them all, and even unscrupulously spread these rumors to attack and slander God. Just based on this, they do not deserve to be called brothers or sisters. Is this correct? (Yes.) Because they can unscrupulously spread rumors, slander God, attack God, and slander God’s house and the church, we have good reason to regard them as servants of Satan, as Satans. They are enemies of God and enemies of all God’s chosen people. So, how should we treat our enemies? (Reject them.) That’s right, we should reject them.

Some people do not love the truth. After hearing rumors, although they do not openly spread them in the church, they do spread them behind the scenes to those close to them. Some undiscerning people become negative and weak upon hearing these rumors; some stop attending gatherings, and some withdraw from the church—yet the rumor-spreader still does not admit that it was their spreading of rumors that caused this. Despite repeated admonitions and fellowship, they continue to do this when encountering such matters, only refraining from openly and brazenly spreading rumors during gatherings or in public out of fear of exposing themselves, being rejected by the brothers and sisters, or cleared out by the church, opting instead to secretly spread some rumors by sending messages to others or through contact with people. Then is it that such people are not evil? Actually, they are even more insidious. No matter how secretly they act, their motives and the nature of their actions are the same as those of Satan’s servants. Their purpose in spreading rumors is to disturb people’s performance of duty, to make people negative and weak, to make people deny God, distance themselves from God, and abandon their duties. Has anyone ever said, “My purpose in spreading rumors is not to disturb people’s performance of duty or to undermine their initiative, but to help them develop discernment and increase their immunity, so that when they hear rumors, they will be immune to them, will not believe them, can pursue the truth properly, and can do their duties in peace”? Has anyone ever spread rumors with this intention? (No.) Does this claim hold up? In fact, it does not hold up. As long as they can spread rumors, especially those that attack, slander, and blaspheme God—casually speaking these whenever they open their mouths and spreading them everywhere without any scruples—regardless of how many rumors they spread, whether the rumors are spread openly or behind the scenes, and regardless of the impact on people, in short, their purpose in spreading rumors is not to help people understand the truth and develop discernment, but to disturb and mislead people, and make them doubt and distance themselves from God—what they are doing is disturbing and dismantling the work of the church. From this perspective, regardless of the reason or the context in which rumors are spread, the essence of people who spread rumors is undoubtedly that of Satan’s servants. Anyone who speaks rumors that slander, attack, and blaspheme God is resisting God and is an enemy of God. Is this correct? (Yes.) Although you are not the originator of the rumors, the fact that you can spread them proves that you believe the rumors are true or that internally you are very willing to believe them. “If only the rumors were true, then I wouldn’t have to believe in God, God wouldn’t be God, and the fact of God’s incarnation wouldn’t exist. He would just be a person, and I could freely make up rumors about Him, denigrate Him, and attack and slander Him.” Isn’t that the goal? If you believe in God but always want to speak and act arbitrarily, isn’t this wanting to oppose God? (Yes.) Some people say, “Is this rebelling against God? Is this having no faith in God?” The nature of this is much more serious. This is resisting God and opposing God. Only God’s enemies resist and oppose God in this way. Corrupt humankind, due to having Satan’s corrupt disposition and lacking an understanding of the truth and knowledge of God, can rebel against God. However, Satan does more than rebel against God; it betrays God, resists God, and opposes God. This makes it an enemy of God. The relationship between God’s enemies and God is one of opposition. What does opposition mean? It means being irreconcilable. Regardless of the situation or the environment, Satan’s opposition to God does not change with time or geography. Satan’s essence is to oppose God, and this is unchanging; Satan simply is God’s enemy. Satan’s resistance to God and its irreconcilability with Him did not last for one day or for merely a few years or decades; it started opposing God ever since it betrayed Him. So when will this opposition end? Will Satan ever be moved and reformed by God? Will its opposition to God gradually diminish over time? No. It will continue to oppose God. When will this opposition cease to exist? When God’s work has finished, and Satan has completed rendering its service and is no longer of any use, and God has destroyed it—that is when the opposition will cease. And what about those who are Satan’s servants? As long as they are in the church, they will continue to oppose the church, God’s house, and God. Some people say, “They believe in God, sometimes make offerings, give alms, and even host brothers and sisters. How are they opposing God? They are not opposing Him; they even do some good deeds.” Are these words correct? Can hosting brothers and sisters and giving a little money to poor brothers and sisters cancel out their opposition to God? Can it prove that they are compatible with God? (No.) So, how does this opposition come about? (It is determined by their nature essence.) That’s right, their nature essence is to resist and antagonize God. For such people, you need to discern them based on God’s words: See who likes to gather negative propaganda or rumors attacking and slandering God’s house and the church from various channels, and who is interested in these negative things and is willing to believe these rumors and devilish words. This will allow you to see the true faces of these disbelievers. These people usually do not read God’s words, are unenthused when listening to the brothers and sisters fellowship the truth, and are lukewarm in doing their duties. They always feel that believing in God is uninteresting. What do they focus on when watching videos and programs of God’s house? When they see positive comments left by religious people, they feel uncomfortable and skip over them. But when they see religious people and nonbelievers standing with the great red dragon, insulting the church, insulting God’s house, and insulting the brothers and sisters with their devilish words, they feel especially happy and excited. Whenever they hear these negative propaganda and rumors, they get as excited as if they’ve been injected with adrenaline, walking with a spring in their step and even waking up from sleep with joy. Isn’t this wicked? Observe those around you to see who belongs to this type of person; see if they have a disposition that hates the truth and hates God. If you do indeed find such a person, you should be particularly wary and discern them; observe their words, actions, and demeanor. Once you confirm they are an evil person, a servant of Satan, you should reject them and not treat them as a brother or sister. Such people should be cleared out of the church as soon as possible. Some people say, “Why should we clear these people out? In God’s house, having one more person means having one more source of strength for doing work; having one more person makes it a little livelier too. They have believed in God for many years, and although they do not love or practice the truth, they have believed in the existence of God since childhood, believing in the Old Man in the Sky. They also believe there is a god three feet above them, and even more so they believe that good and evil have their recompense. They generally do not dare to commit obvious bad deeds and are willing to help others. It’s just that they have this little hobby; they enjoy spreading rumors and gossip. In particular, they spread rumors from the great red dragon that smear God, repeating these things without even thinking much about them, maybe because they are ignorant and unknowledgeable.” On the surface, they do not seem like evil people and have not disrupted or disturbed the church’s work, but they are particularly active in spreading rumors and always want to be the first to spread them. Shouldn’t people be vigilant against such individuals? Aren’t they servants of Satan? The essence of such people is all too obvious! They are never interested in God’s words or the truth, and they never seek the truth principles when doing their duty. In anything they do, they do not display earnestness, do not apply their hearts, and are unwilling to endure hardship. They just act perfunctorily and go through the motions, constantly joking around. In their speech and actions they do not offend anyone and can get along with everyone, appearing friendly to others—it’s just that they like to gather and spread rumors. From these actions, can we conclude that these people are Satan’s servants? (Yes.) Why can we? Is this blowing things out of proportion? (No.) They have no interest whatsoever in pursuing the truth. As soon as they listen to a sermon, they get drowsy; as soon as God’s words are fellowshipped, they feel repulsed and restless, constantly getting up to drink water or go to the bathroom, always feeling uneasy inside—listening to fellowship seems as incredibly difficult for them as undergoing torture. However, as soon as they hear Satan’s rumors or the devilish words of nonbelievers, their interest is piqued, they become invigorated, and they start spreading these rumors and devilish words with great initiative. Are such people brothers and sisters? No. They are averse to the truth and despise the truth to their marrow. Regarding matters related to God and His work, whether it is God’s identity and essence, God’s status, God’s dignity, or the flesh in which God is incarnated, they hold these in contempt in their hearts. They are entirely devoid of a God-fearing heart. So, they always harbor notions about God and His work. They can easily repeat all kinds of Satan’s rumors and devilish words, thus achieving their goal of spreading them, without any pangs of conscience. What sort of wretch is this? Are they believers in God? (No.) These are the actions of those who verbally acknowledge God and claim to follow God, who believe there is an Old Man in the Sky, believe there is a god three feet above them, and believe that good and evil have their recompense. This is their attitude toward God. If someone insulted their parents or fabricated rumors about their parents behind their backs, they would undoubtedly fight to the death. However, when someone insults God, attacks God, or slanders God, they not only are not upset, but they can repeat it as a joke and even spread it everywhere. Is this something a follower of God should do? (No.) So, is it appropriate for many people to treat these disbelievers as brothers and sisters? (No.) Therefore, when such people are suspected of being Satan’s servants, others should be alert. Leaders and workers must promptly inform the brothers and sisters to be wary of these people, so that everyone can discern them. Once they are confirmed as Satan’s servants, as devils, everyone should collectively reject them and clear them out of the church. Does this align with principles? (Yes.) Then this is what should be done.

C. How to Treat the Baseless Rumors of the CCP Government and the Religious World That Slander and Attack God

The Chinese Communist government and the religious community have fabricated many baseless rumors about God’s house, falsely claiming that the brothers and sisters force people to accept the gospel, and so on. How do you feel after hearing these rumors? (Angry, indignant.) These are rumors about you, and you feel indignant. To what extent are you indignant? Do you want to find the people fabricating the rumors and argue with them, even teach them a lesson? (Yes.) These rumors superficially target the church, but in fact, they involve every member of the church and each member’s reputation and integrity. After hearing them you feel indignant, saying, “We didn’t do that! We preach the gospel according to the truth principles. For those who do not want to believe in God, we never force them. Belief is voluntary. We never coerce anyone, much less do we harm or retaliate against people. On the contrary, those of us preaching the gospel have been savagely beaten by religious people and reported to the police by them, handed over to the great red dragon to be tormented; so many of us have been imprisoned, and quite a few have even been detained in private jails set up by religious people. We are the ones being wronged!” After hearing these rumors, you feel indignant and always want to argue with them. You have this reaction because these rumors directly attack and denigrate the church and God’s chosen people. How do you feel when you hear rumors that denigrate and judge God? These do not involve your personal interests or your integrity and dignity; they are rumors concerning God. For example, when you believed in Jesus before, some people said that Jesus was born of a virgin and had no father. How did you feel when you heard that? Did you want to argue with them? “It is God we believe in!” Then you thought it over: “Mary was a virgin, and Jesus was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit. This is a fact, but nonbelievers speak about it crudely, and I don’t like to hear that!” At most you might have had such feelings, but in your heart, you still felt that the conception by the Holy Spirit strongly contradicted human notions. You could not believe in this matter because you believe in science; you do not believe in God’s almightiness from your heart, nor do you believe that everything God says and does is the truth, and then you will not go to refute the devilish words of the disbelievers. Because you do not possess the truth and do not understand the truth, at most, you find the rumors people talk about unpleasant to hear, and think people shouldn’t speak that way because these rumors involve your reputation; you think, “Nonbelievers are so disgusting and vile! They have the gall to use any filthy words; they truly are disbelievers! They truly are devils!” That’s all, and it’s the most you can achieve. Why do you feel triggered and find nonbelievers vile and disgusting after hearing them say such rumors? Because they involve your reputation; these rumors provoke your heart, making you feel disgraced, so they stir up your anger, and you stand up to say some positive words in refutation. Is such a refutation entirely standing on God’s side? Is it to defend God’s testimony? No, it is entirely to defend your own face and dignity. Why say this? Because you have not seen through to the essence of the problem; even more so, you do not understand God’s intentions or what God requires of you. What you understand and feel does not align with God’s intentions; it is just human impetuousness and human good behavior. Human good behavior does not represent the testimony you bear for God. You have not stood firm in your testimony; you are merely defending your face and dignity, you are refuting the rumors for the sake of easing your conscience a bit—you are not standing on God’s side to speak up for Him, nor are you using the truth or facts to refute the rumors and testify for God. You are not speaking up for God, and what you say certainly does not align with the truth; it only aligns with your fleshly interests—it’s just to make your heart feel less upset, and so that you won’t feel believing in the Lord Jesus is embarrassing. That is all. Therefore, when you hear someone attacking and condemning God, vilifying and judging God’s church, or even condemning you, you feel particularly indignant and want to argue and debate with them, to restore your reputation and clarify these matters. But does this mean you have stood firm in your testimony? It falls short of that; without understanding the truth, there is no testimony!

When you hear rumors that get spread in the outside world slandering and attacking God, whether they are attacking the God in heaven or the God incarnate on earth, how do you feel? Are you indifferent, or do you feel a bit of pain? Are you unable to stand it and not reconciled to it, or are you helpless? Some people, after hearing these rumors, think, “God is innocent; God didn’t do these things. Why is He being attacked and slandered by the world and the religious community like this? We must diligently expend ourselves and do our duties, and defend God’s name. When God’s great work is accomplished, the truth of everything will come to light, and all the peoples of the world will see that the God incarnate we believe in is the one true God, the God in heaven, and that this is not wrong at all!” Others think, “God has expressed so many truths, and these nonbelieving evil people and devils know full well that God’s words are the truth, yet they still slander and attack God. How long must God suffer?” Still others say, “People can say whatever they want; we pay them no mind. God has never refuted the rumors that slander against Him; He doesn’t respond to them. What can we, then, as miniscule human beings, do? Hasn’t God always been misunderstood, attacked, blasphemed, and rejected by humankind like this? God has no complaints whatsoever, and He still saves people. Let time reveal everything; God will bear His own testimony!” What is your viewpoint? Just now I mentioned being unyielding, indignant, not reconciled to it, helpless—which one do you feel? Which feeling is the most correct? How should these matters be treated in accordance with the truth principles? How do you feel when you hear these rumors? (Indignant.) Indignant, and then you want to write a condemnation to rail against these rumor-fabricators, these religious frauds and evil people of religion. Do you have such thoughts? You won’t feel it’s enough to just clench your fists in anger, right? Do you feel an impulse to do something about it? Or is it just empty indignation? (There’s also hatred and rejection.) Indignation, hatred, rejection—these are emotions that arise from mental activities, without specific words, behaviors, or actions; they’re just emotions, and of course they also represent certain attitudes. (Besides feeling indignation, sometimes we write articles or create programs to clarify the facts and expose that the essence of their actions is one of hatred for the truth and for God, so that people can see the true facts.) Will those people accept it after seeing the true facts? Even if they accept that what you say is correct and then make a fair comment, saying, “Your belief is correct; keep believing, we support you!” and the religious frauds feel ashamed and say, “Sorry, we were wrong, what we said was not factual; from now on, you believe in your way, and we’ll believe in ours,” would that make you feel at ease? Is this the only goal you’re aiming for? (We also want to testify to God so that those who are investigating the true way and who thirst for the truth can clearly discern right from wrong and accept the true way.) This is one path; this is a positive way of practice. Is just getting angry and hating useful? What is the reason for your anger and hatred? Why be angry and hateful? (God has become flesh to save people, which is the most righteous thing, but they spread rumors to judge and denigrate God. We feel very indignant, thinking that they are really inverting right and wrong and talking nonsense.) Do you think that humankind’s and the world’s rejection of God and their attitude toward God are only like this during the period of this incarnation of God? Humankind’s and the world’s attitude toward God has always been the same from beginning to end, always condemning, slandering, attacking, and blaspheming. Since God began His work until now, humankind’s attitude toward everything God has done, and toward God incarnate, has not changed. It was not only after God’s first incarnation that humankind began to attack and blaspheme God and concoct various rumors about God incarnate—this has all been happening since God began His work and since humankind first came into contact with God and His work, and has continued until now. And those who follow God have always had to endure denigration, attacks, judgments, blasphemy, various rumors, and more from Satan’s regimes and the religious antichrist forces against God and the church. Could it be that followers of God must endure these things? Some say, “We are so disgusted by these rumors because they completely twist the facts and invert right and wrong. We feel furious as soon as we hear them, and deep in our hearts we hate those who fabricate and spread rumors. Regardless of whether these rumors come from the religious community or from the devilish CCP government, we have only one attitude, and it is one of hatred and anger; and then we want to refute them and clarify everything.” Some even say, “We want to have a debate with these devils and antichrists so that we can shame Satan and make it humiliated!” Is this the viewpoint of most people? Is this viewpoint correct? If viewed from the perspective of normal humanity, it is reasonable. People should have some uprightness and the normal gamut of emotions; they should love and hate clearly, loving what should be loved and hating what should be hated. People with normal humanity should possess these qualities. But, is merely standing from the perspective of normal humanity enough to be in line with the truth principles? To put it more clearly, is this approach in line with God’s intentions? Or rather, is this an attitude and approach that God delights in? When I say this, most people might grasp something, thinking, “You said this is merely viewing things from the perspective of normal humanity. Judging from the implications of what You said, it’s evident that this approach is one of impetuousness, not in line with the truth principles, and not in line with God’s intentions.” What does it mean to be out of line with God’s intentions? It means that God does not desire people to act this way; God’s wishes and His required standards for people are not like this. If you act this way, although God does not condemn it, from His perspective, it does not mean you are following His will, and He does not acknowledge it. On the surface, it seems that you are acting with reason in doing these things, having both hatred and love, wanting to clarify these facts for God so that the whole world knows that God is God, that God is the God of all humankind, and that everyone should worship God and accept God’s salvation. On the surface, it seems that what you are doing is impeccable, reasonable, in line with the law, with humanity, with morality, and, even more so, in line with the tastes of all people. But have you asked God about this? Have you sought God? Have you found the principles of action that God requires of people from His words? What exactly are God’s intentions? Some people say, “There are so many of God’s words; it’s not easy to find God’s specific requirements for people in every matter.” Since you haven’t found God’s explicit words, you can look for clues from God’s attitude toward these kinds of rumors. Then can’t you determine what people’s attitude toward this matter should be and what the principles they should practice are based on God’s attitude toward this matter? (Yes.) So, let’s see what exactly God’s attitude toward this matter is.

Since the beginning of humankind’s encounter with God’s work, people have complained about and been dissatisfied with God, even secretly uttering many repugnant words of suspicion, doubt, and rejection, among others, toward God. There’re also the various rumors from the ruling party and the religious community, which absolutely do not align with the facts nor conform to the truth. What are these words to God? Whether they are suspicions, misunderstandings, or complaints, they are filled with attacks, slanders, and blasphemies against God, and they do not reflect the slightest bit of a God-fearing heart; it has been this way right from the start. There are always some in the church who do not love the truth. These are the disbelievers, who doubt God’s words and the truth, exhibiting such an attitude toward God. Even more so for those nonbelievers and atheistic ruling parties, those humans averse to the truth—their attitude toward God needs no explanation; they unscrupulously attack and judge, saying whatever they want. In particular, those Pharisees in the religious community even more so take the opportunity to wantonly judge and condemn. All these comments are not positive, and they certainly are not objective and accurate. What is the essence of these comments, then? To God, these words are not merely statements or viewpoints, but rather denigration, attacks, slanders, and blasphemies against Him. Why do I say “to God”? Because God measures all of this most accurately, we can only add a prefix. Throughout history, humankind’s attitude toward God has been like this; people’s words that attack and insult God have been far too many, with not a single word being well-intentioned. Even today, what your ears hear and your eyes see is the same. From the beginning, the entirety of humankind’s attitude toward God has not changed. How does God deal with these matters? Does God have the conditions or the capability to convene a global religious congress to defend Himself, to clarify the actual facts of His work, to justify Himself to humankind? Has God done this? No, God remains silent, He does not clarify the entire situation, nor does He ever defend or justify Himself. However, for those who attack God in a particularly vile manner, God has administered some punishment, letting some facts befall them. As for the public’s attacks, slanders, and blasphemies, what is God’s attitude? How does God handle this? He ignores it; He does what needs to be done, He does it in the way it should be done, selecting whom He ought to select, guiding whom He ought to guide. The entire world is orderly in God’s hands; He has never disrupted or changed His plans because of human attacks, slanders, or blasphemies. When Satan’s evil forces suppress and arrest God’s chosen people, no matter how frenzied, God has never changed His plans or His mind. His thoughts and ideas remain wholly unchanged; He just continues as always to carry out the work He intends to do, managing His humankind. For God, these attacks, slanders, and blasphemies have never posed any interference; God pays them no mind. Why doesn’t God justify or defend Himself? For God, these things are entirely normal. Humanity is humanity, and Satan is Satan. It’s very normal for humans, who do not understand the truth or the real facts, to do such things. Does this affect the steps of God’s work? It does not. God possesses great power; He holds sovereignty over all. All things and everything operate methodically within God’s words, within God’s thoughts, and under God’s sovereignty; no matter what humankind says or does, it cannot impact God’s work in any way—this is what a God with divine essence is capable of doing. God acts when the time comes, fulfilling His plans without the slightest discrepancy, and no one can change this. Human remarks and any human attacks on or slander of God, whether they are intentional attempts to obstruct and destroy God’s work or unintentional disturbances to and dismantling of God’s work, have never achieved their intended goals. Why? This is God’s authority; this confirms that God’s authority is unique, irreplaceable by any force, and unsurpassed by any force. This is a fact. God has this authority and this power, God has His true identity, and no force can change anything, so why should God bother with people’s minor attacks and slanders? To God, no matter how many important figures or how great a power among humankind try to interfere with, slander, attack, or blaspheme Him, it cannot disturb God’s work in the slightest. Rather, these actions only serve to highlight God’s righteous disposition and almightiness. The disturbances by Satan’s evil forces are merely a minor episode in the course of human history. What can hold sovereignty over all of humankind, influence all of humankind, and transform all of humankind are God’s work, God’s plan, and God’s great power and authority. This is the fact. Conversely, does God need to bother with people’s denigration, attacks, slanders, and blasphemies against Him? No. Because God has authority, for God, His statement, “I mean what I say, what I say shall be done, and what I do shall last forever,” will always come true; it is coming true and being fulfilled every day. This is God’s authority. Some people ask, “Is this God’s confidence, His faith?” You are mistaken! Humans have confidence, humans need faith, but God does not. Why? Because God has authority and power, and no matter how humankind slanders or condemns Him, no matter how Satan’s hostile forces disturb and sabotage, nothing will change. Therefore, God does not need to eliminate the hostile forces among corrupt humankind that attack, slander, and blaspheme Him before carrying out His work. Under what circumstances does God work? Under what circumstances does He achieve victory? Under what circumstances does He accomplish His work? It is done amid the cacophony of the attacks, slanders, and blasphemies of all humankind and all hostile forces; it is in such an environment and backdrop that He accomplishes His work. Is this not a demonstration of God’s great power? Is this not God’s authority? (It is.) Who can deny this fact? Do you dare not acknowledge this is the fact?

Throughout history, humankind has continuously slandered and blasphemed God, and in the last days, the forces among all humankind that resist God have grown even stronger, with more voices slandering and condemning God. Humankind utilizes various methods, through newspapers, television, the internet, and other media, to slander and attack God. But have we ever dissected these rumors in all our gatherings? (No.) Why not? Some people say, “Is it because the innocent remain innocent, and rumors die when they reach the wise?” Is that why? (These rumors fundamentally can’t affect God’s work. No matter how Satan disturbs, it cannot sabotage or obstruct the progress of God’s work and plan.) Satan is just such a thing; as long as God acts, as long as God works, it comes to disturb. This is precisely the role it plays. Is it okay for you to stop it from performing? You have to give it enough space, enough of a stage, enough opportunity to perform. When it has performed enough, is tired from its turmoil, and has done enough evil, its days are over. We don’t need to waste precious time dissecting and analyzing its various rumors and evil deeds to debunk these rumors; doing so is useless and worthless. What’s the use of dissecting those? Can it represent people understanding the truth? There are too many truths that people should understand; they can’t even listen to all these truths, let alone debunk these rumors. Do people have that spare time? To be honest, I’m really not interested in those matters, nor am I willing to mention them or pay attention to them. Some people say, “In these years, is it that You don’t dare to go anywhere? Is it that there are so many rumors flying around that You’re always anxious and scared wherever you go?” I say I feel nothing at all. Some people say, “Don’t You want to defend Yourself against things You haven’t done?” What is there to defend? I can’t even keep up with My proper business! I converse with people, with created beings, not with devils. Some people ask, “Doesn’t it make You angry to hear these rumors?” I say I feel nothing toward them, they don’t make Me feel anything; I don’t bother with these matters. Some people ask, “Don’t You feel wronged?” I say I don’t feel wronged, what is there to feel wronged about? Do what I can, do what I should, do well what I can and should do, fulfill My responsibilities—that is the best thing, that is meaningful. I won’t be distracted by or spend time on those meaningless, worthless things. I don’t have time to bother with those matters. Some people say, “What about when You have free time, will You bother with them then?” No, not even when I have free time. I’d rather talk to My dog than converse with devils. If you clearly know it’s a devil spouting its devilish talk, why bother with it? You shouldn’t bother at all; letting the devil be thoroughly shamed is the correct thing to do. In short, God’s attitude toward these rumors is as follows: In doing anything or saying each sentence, God is not justifying Himself, not proving Himself to humankind, and certainly not justifying Himself to Satan, His enemy, saying He is pure and innocent, and without guilt. Everything God does is for His management, to save the humans He intends to save. He follows His management plan step by step; He does not do it to demonstrate anything to anyone, nor to confirm His identity. Speaking in human terms, everything God does is done instinctively without any insincerity or passivity. God instinctively carrying out all these tasks confirms His identity and His essence. Humankind cannot change God’s plan, nor can they surpass God’s authority and power; this is a fact. Therefore, God disregards the rumors and devilish words that attack and slander Him from any side within humankind. Tell Me, would it not be too easy for God to utter a chapter of words or write a condemnation to rail against the attacks and resistance against God of the atheistic ruling parties in the world and the religious community? But God will not act this way toward Satan. God operates on principles; when it comes to God destroying Satan’s evil forces, He has His own timing. For God, acting is too easy. God could perform some wondrous deeds in the heavens, and suddenly the heavens would split open with a voice saying, “I am the one true God whom you slander, attack, and blaspheme; I am the Almighty you are currently slandering and blaspheming!” Upon hearing this, humankind would be immediately stunned and at a loss, only able to prostrate themselves on the ground, weeping and gnashing their teeth. This one sentence would resolve everything, prove everything; would anyone then dare to insult God? Would those devils in the religious community not be scared into vanishing without a trace? Satan fabricates rumors about God, it slanders and attacks God, making those who believe in God angry and hateful, unable to eat or sleep, wanting to write articles and produce programs to refute it, while God acts simply—He could just speak a few sentences and all of humankind would then yield completely, no longer daring to attack or blaspheme Him. How was Paul made to be obedient? (God appeared to him on the road to Damascus.) God appeared to him. Actually he saw nothing; there was just a light that frightened Paul so much he fell prostrate on the ground, and he no longer dared to persecute Jesus. Dealing with Satan is that simple; actually, it’s too easy for God. God could settle it with just one word. Doing this would be much easier than spending decades talking to you and putting all this effort into you, but God does not act this way. Why? There’s a secret I must tell you: It is humans that God saves, that is, those people God has chosen; the rest, whom God has not chosen, are not considered humans but are beasts, devils, unworthy of hearing God’s voice, seeing God’s face, or much less knowing any information about God. Therefore, God does not act this way. God’s identity is honorable; not just anyone who wishes to see Him can do so, and He will not appear to someone simply because they are always intently, eagerly, and wholeheartedly looking up to a certain place in the sky. Do you think anyone who wants to see God can see Him? God has dignity; God appears to those who fear Him and shun evil, He appears in holy places and hides from filthy places. Whether the entirety of humankind is filthy or holy needs no discussion. This humankind does not deserve to see God; they do not acknowledge that there is a God, so why would God appear to them? They are not worthy! God is capable of doing things but does not do them; this confirms God’s humility and hiddenness, and the honorableness of His identity. Tell Me, if Satan could do those things, how many times a day would it do them, how much would it show off? When humans corrupted by Satan hold some minor office and wield a bit of power, who knows to what extent they will show off this power—to say nothing of Satan, who will abuse and flaunt any bit of power it possesses in unimaginable ways. God does not act in this way; do not measure God with Satan’s logic, that would be a grave mistake. As for what God can do, it’s up to God whether He wishes to do it; if God wishes, it could be done in a moment, and if He does not wish to, no one can coerce Him. God’s attitude toward rumors is just this—He ignores them. God still does what He ought to do, what He intends to do; no person, no force can upset or change His plan. These rumors that attack, slander, and denigrate God change nothing. Rumors, after all, are just rumors and can never become facts. Even if they align with human philosophy, science, morality, theory, and so forth, even if all of humankind rises to attack God, the truth will not stand with humankind, nor will humankind become the possessor of truth. God is forever God; His identity and status never change. Thus, no matter how Satan disturbs, God’s work still proceeds in an orderly fashion, because this is God’s work. If it were human work, Satan’s regime causing such disturbances and various societal forces launching such attacks and slander would have already caused it to collapse and cease to exist. Only when God speaks and works, only when the Holy Spirit works, does the church prosper more and more. Isn’t this a fact? Have you seen this fact? (Yes, we have.) What have you seen? (The kingdom gospel has already spread to dozens of countries, and those rumors fabricated and spread by Satan have not stopped those who love the truth from turning to God at all.) This is God’s doing; God’s work can achieve this effect, God’s words can achieve this effect—this is beyond Satan’s expectations. God’s words have such immense power; the gospel is spreading in a good direction and everything is proceeding orderly according to God’s plan, without any discrepancy. God’s work and God’s words are spreading among God’s chosen people, as has long been preordained. The number of people gained from preaching the gospel and the number of people investigating the true way are increasing month by month. Doesn’t this show how the gospel work has spread? If it were not God’s work, no matter how many people paid how great a price, they could not achieve this effect. This is the might of God, the effect achieved by the power of God’s words.

Let’s return to talking about how people treat various rumors. People cannot attain the same attitude as God toward various rumors. They do not understand God’s intentions, and upon hearing rumors, they always feel: “If I don’t do something, I’d be failing my conscience. If the people who fabricate rumors prevail, I will feel uneasy, discontented, and indignant, feeling an imbalance, so I must refute them. I must make a video, or write an article to clarify the rumors.” It’s worth reflecting whether doing things under such a mindset is in line with God’s intentions, whether it conforms to the truth principles. If your purpose and motivation in doing church work and your duties are merely to clarify rumors and to explain clearly that it is the true God in whom you believe, that you are on the right path in life, and that all you’ve done to preach the gospel and testify to God has been just—and that it’s just because the world does not know or understand the truth of all these facts that they have accused you of many baseless crimes—and you thereby hope that when everything is clarified, the world will recognize you as innocent, that all parties in the world will universally acknowledge that “it is the true God in whom you believe, you are on the right path in life, and everything God has asked you to do is correct and is a just cause,” then what? Will you then feel at ease and justified in your belief? Will you have embarked on the right track in believing in God? Will you have embarked on the path of salvation without any external interference? Will you have developed a God-fearing heart? Can you then achieve submission to God? Can you then receive God’s approval? (No.) Is it possible for people to have no misunderstandings about you and only praise and revere you, after which you can believe in God with a clear conscience? Absolutely not! Of course, people cannot reach the same attitude toward rumors as God, but one should have a correct perspective, an accurate attitude and stance, saying: “These rumors are indeed hateful and disgusting. From these rumors, it can be seen that this corrupt humankind is indeed the enemy of God; this is absolutely correct! I must not judge whether God’s work is true or false based on Satan’s rumors. Through reading God’s words and through experiences in doing my duty, I confirm that all God’s words are the truth, and all that He does enables people to be saved. Having come before God today to accept His salvation, I ought to do my duty, and fulfill my obligations and responsibilities to propagate God’s words, proclaim His name, and testify to God’s work and His intentions, so that the ones God chooses may return to God’s house, hear His voice, and receive the supply of words and life from Him as quickly and as soon as possible. This is my obligation, my responsibility. I am cooperating with God’s work, but not to justify that the path I follow is the right one or that the cause I undertake is just—not for these things. I am not doing my duty to retaliate against Satan’s attacks and slanders against God. Rather, I am fulfilling my own obligations and responsibilities, and of course, my own loyalty, to repay God’s love, to accept God’s commission, and cooperate with God’s work.” Is this the correct perspective? Is this the perspective that people should have? (Yes.) From this angle, when creating various programs, whether it’s singing hymns, dancing, making films, or producing stage plays about experiential testimonies, shouldn’t people’s stance, the angle from which they stand, and some specific statements they make undergo some changes? (Yes.) However, most people, while performing all these tasks, have done so with impetuousness and hatred, and mixed with human emotions. Therefore, they have exposed too much about the actions and behaviors of nonbelievers, the ruling party, and the religious community, and their words have been too harsh, leaving a somewhat negative impact on others after they view such programs. The reason is simple: People undertake all these activities with a certain emotion, from not quite the right angle. And people still feel this is quite just, saying: “They attack, denigrate, and fabricate rumors about us; what’s wrong with exposing them? This is legitimate self-defense! Defending oneself legitimately isn’t illegal, nor are we making things up; we are all dissecting things based on facts. They fabricate rumors about us out of nothing; is it wrong for us to expose and dissect them? Can’t we retaliate?” What use is retaliation? Devils are full of lies and never speak a single truthful statement; constantly dissecting their lies to make them recognize that what they say is lies and so that after they admit to lying they never lie again—is there any value in that? Can they achieve this? (No.) Isn’t that approach foolish and ignorant? I have long said that our main task is to testify to God’s work, the effects achieved by His work, His words, and the effects of His words on people, and that regarding the suppression and persecution by the ruling party, and the resistance and condemnation by the religious community, it’s enough just to briefly mention some of the background involved. But people cannot understand no matter how they hear this. They always treat these issues with impetuousness and want to argue. And what’s the result? It yields no effect at all, for the evil forces of Satan are beyond reasoning with. Isn’t this the foolishness and ignorance of people?

Some people preach the gospel, learn some technical profession, or do a certain type of duty, with the sole motivation of clarifying rumors and explaining what is true to people, declaring war on the dark world and the evil humans who resist God. Is this an act of justice? Whether you are right or wrong in doing this, you need to understand: Can God save those wicked people who are hostile to Him? Is there any value in you doing this? If you do not understand what kind of humans God saves and always express some viewpoints that seem right but are actually wrong, isn’t this hindering your own salvation? Some people do their duty just to fight against the evil forces that resist God and to oppose worldly trends. “They say we neglect our families and don’t live normal lives, so I want to prove myself by doing my duties well. In the future, when I go to heaven and enter the kingdom and they are judged, they will see that I am right!” What’s the use of proving yourself like that? Even if you have proven yourself, what good can it do? What does it represent? What is the value of that? If it could truly allow you to enter the kingdom and gain God’s approval, then it would be worth it, and your path would be correct. But unfortunately, this path is not feasible. This is not the path God has predestined for people, and God does not require people to act in this way. People are always foolish, thinking that because they stand on the side of the truth and have the truth, they must undertake just causes, declaring war on this evil world and all those who fabricate rumors: “We believe in God and follow God, we do our duty—we’ll show you who’s on the right path!” Isn’t this impetuousness? Is there any use in arguing over these things? It has no value at all. If you really have the time and energy, it would be better to learn some more about a profession, to study some more knowledge and common knowledge related to a profession. This is beneficial and supportive to your performance of duty. Why are you always contending with the evil forces of the world? Why always contend with rumors? Isn’t this expending effort where it’s not needed? No matter how others attack you, there’s no need to pay attention to them. They are of a devilish nature, and are beasts, they are just that kind of thing; God does not save them, does not change them, and does not speak to them. God ignores them, so do you need to pay attention to them? If people insist on obstinately doing what God does not do, isn’t this a bit foolish and lacking in wisdom? At the very least, you are a person who does not have a heart of submission to God, and you do not love what God loves, or hate what God hates. You do not see what God’s attitude toward these things is—God ignores them; you don’t even realize why that is. In each of God’s three stages of work, God has spoken many words. There are many dialogues between God and humankind, and from these dialogues, one can see God’s intentions, God’s disposition, and essence. However, God never talks about how He dialogues with Satan in certain specific matters, and thus exposes Satan, allowing humankind to see clearly Satan’s true face, and to see clearly how Satan treats God. There are so many such matters, but God does not mention them. Why doesn’t God mention them? Because talking about those things is of no benefit to you. That which is most beneficial to you are the words of God’s life; these words that can enable you to come before God and become a person who submits to God, and who fears God and shuns evil are the most beneficial to you. God tells you how to live and how to speak, and also how to discern people and matters and learn to practice the truth and be wise in various environments and situations—these are all beneficial to you. God says and does whatever is beneficial to you. God does not say a single word that is of no benefit to you. Wouldn’t it be all too easy for God to say those words? So why doesn’t He say them? Because corrupt humankind does not need those words. These rumors are equivalent to the words of devils and Satan, and God ignores them, so you shouldn’t contend with them either. Understand? (Understood.) Once you understand, you know how to practice, don’t you? Don’t put effort into dissecting rumors, refuting rumors, searching for the sources of rumors, and so forth. If you truly have the heart to testify for God and want to stand firm in your testimony and gain God’s approval, there are so many words you can say and so many things you can do. The words and truths that God supplies to people require you to ponder, experience, and engage with them, so that they become your own principles and paths of practice, eventually becoming your own life. It is necessary for you to spend time and energy to implement this. If you are foolish and stupid, always putting effort into rumors, always wanting to clear your name and clarify yourself to the world, then that spells trouble; you will not gain the truth, and you will be utterly entangled and exhausted by these worldly rumors. In the end, you will not be able to explain things clearly. Why won’t you be able to explain them clearly? Because you are facing the devil, and it tells blatant lies. What does the devil say now? The great red dragon says, “China is the defender of world order, the defender of world peace, and its role in maintaining world peace and order is crucial.” Which words that it says are facts? Are these words facts? When you hear these words, don’t you feel angry? After hearing this, you think Satan is so shameless to even say such things. Why would you argue with it? Aren’t you being foolish? This is just the sort of thing it is—God just uses it to render service, He absolutely does not intend to save or change it. Isn’t it foolish to argue with it? Don’t do such stupid things. Wise people do not listen to these rumors, nor are they constrained by them. Some people say, “After hearing the rumors, I get disturbed!” Then you should pray in your heart, use the truth to discern, and then curse those devils and Satan, and these rumors will no longer have any effect on your heart. There is another way: You must see through to the essence. You say, “Even if God’s actions don’t conform to my notions and are condemned and rejected by corrupt humankind, I see that He is the truth, and devils and Satan have no truth. I am determined to believe in God! Only God can save me. He has God’s essence, He is God, and His essence never changes. No matter how much devils and Satan resist God, they have no truth, and I don’t believe the words of devils and Satan!” Do you have this faith? (Yes.) If you have this faith, you should not be perturbed by any people, events, or things, and even less should you be misled or attacked by Satan. What should you do, then? Ignore it; just focus on pursuing the truth and standing firm in your testimony, and Satan will be shamed.

Just now, we fellowshipped about some issues related to spreading rumors within the church. Most people have heard some rumors from the Chinese Communist government and the religious community; we also fellowshipped just now about how to treat and handle these rumors. Once people understand the truth principles, they will no longer be misled or disturbed by the rumors. When someone appears in the church who spreads rumors, regardless of the manner or tone in which they spread whatever kinds of rumors, how should we approach it? Should we let it happen without intervening, or expose, dissect, and deal with that person? Which method is in line with the principles? There are some who say, “Isn’t there freedom of speech? Why not let that person speak? Just let them talk. After listening to the rumors, once everyone can discern them for what they are, they will no longer believe these devilish words, and the rumors will naturally collapse.” Others say, “It’s unacceptable for them to spread rumors and slander God. We can’t let them do things that slander God. We should teach them a lesson to wake them up. God has endured so much suffering to speak and work to save us, yet they are spreading rumors. They have no conscience! Only by cursing them can we allay our hatred; if we won’t deal with them, we’ll be letting God down.” Which way is good? These approaches are all no good. As we fellowshipped earlier, those who spread rumors are definitely not anything good, and such individuals need to be discerned. If they only occasionally spread rumors, they should be warned. If they consistently spread rumors, they must be exposed, dissected, and then cleared out of the church, so they can no longer mislead or harm people. Is it easy to deal with this matter? Would you handle it this way, or would you wait for the church leaders to give orders? Once it is discovered that someone is consistently spreading rumors, and that every time they come to a gathering they talk about these things, never read God’s words, never pray, don’t learn hymns, and even more so, they don’t share their experiential understanding of God’s words, and whenever anyone fellowships about God’s words and shares experiential testimony, they feel disgusted by it and averse to it, but feel no such aversion to the rumors of nonbelievers, and get very excited about them—once all this is discovered, why show any courtesy to such a person? It is clear that they are a servant of Satan who has infiltrated the church to disturb God’s chosen people from following God. Do you condone their disturbance? (No.) If you don’t condone it, then stand up and say, “So-and-so comes to the church and always spreads rumors, doesn’t read God’s words, and doesn’t share their experiential understanding of God’s words. They are a disbeliever and should be cleared out of the church. Does anyone have any objections?” If everyone says they have no objections and raises their hands in agreement, then that person should be cleared out. Isn’t it satisfying to deal with a rumormonger this way? (Yes.) This is how such people should be dealt with.

D. Discerning Several Kinds of Baseless Rumors That Misinterpret God’s Words and Judge God’s Work

Where do the types of rumors we just talked about come from? They come from the great red dragon, from the religious community, and from nonbelievers. Aside from rumors from the outside world, there are also some sayings and gossip about the inside of the church. There are even wholly untrue claims about God, God’s work, God’s day, and some of God’s words, as well as some mysteries involving God and His work, which people create based on their imaginings and notions, or based on the continual relaying of erroneous information and groundless speculation. And because people embellish such sayings, gossip, and claims, these rumors are formed. Once rumors are formed, some people who have a predilection for rumors become enthusiastic about the business of spreading them, treating the rumors as real and spreading them everywhere, describing them so vividly and thoroughly that some people who are unaware of the true state of affairs, and who do not understand the truth and are foolish and ignorant, are truly misled by these rumors. Once misled, are they affected and disturbed? (Yes.) These are also common issues that crop up in the church. Although these rumors pale in comparison to those that slander and attack God and God’s house—they neither slander nor blaspheme God—and although they do not cause any disturbances or damage to God’s work, they nevertheless affect some people’s life entry and should be stopped. For example, when some people hear some specious remarks, they believe them in their hearts and quickly spread them to those around them who are close to them. As the rumors circulate, the details become more numerous and complete, and eventually, the rumors start to seem like real events. Elements like time, place, and characters are all in place—such rumors meet the conditions for being able to be spread publicly, don’t they? What information is being spread? The rumormonger says, “There’s something important I must tell you about today. I’ll feel uncomfortable inside if I don’t; I won’t even be able to focus on reading God’s words. I am so excited about this matter. Now we who believe in God finally have hope!” When everyone hears that there is hope, they become interested and enthusiastic; this topic is very compelling. They say, “God’s work is going to be finished soon. Several signs that God previously prophesied regarding the end of His work have already appeared. For example, the state of the moon and sun, the situation in the East and the West, the number of God’s chosen people in each country, how many people are able to do their duties, and so on—these signs of the conclusion of God’s work are now before us. We need to prepare quickly!” Someone asks, “What should we prepare?” The rumormonger says, “We should prepare good deeds and prepare food, and quickly give all our savings as offerings to God, then we can secure a good destination.” They also say, “In such and such a year and month, on such and such a date, and at such and such a time, we need to gather at a specific place where God will be waiting for us to take us away. God said, ‘If you do not forsake everything, you are not worthy to be My disciple, and not worthy to be My follower.’ Now the day of God has finally come, and God’s words have been fulfilled. We must let go of all worldly things, not only our prospects and careers but also our families, relatives, and fleshly relationships. We must forsake all worldly entanglements; we’re going to meet with God!” Most people ask, “Is this true?” The rumormonger says, “Yes, I’ve sold my house and car and withdrawn my savings. If you don’t believe me, take a look at God’s words. In one chapter, decoding a certain sentence reveals an address, and in another chapter, decoding a certain passage reveals the year and month….” Hearing this, is there anyone who isn’t stirred? Is there anyone who can discern these words? Aren’t these things that people are very concerned about? Aren’t these things that people have long hoped for? Some people, after hearing this and then looking at God’s words and thinking that it really does match up, start considering a backup plan. Even though some people are skeptical inside, they still hope it is true, thinking, “Although the specified year and day are a bit far off, at least there is an exact date and time, so we have hope.” Even though they do not really believe it, they still pay a certain amount of attention to it. What does this attention indicate? It shows that people are easily influenced and perturbed by these things. Once this type of rumor starts spreading widely in the church, 80 to 90 percent of people will be extremely excited, and get a rush of emotions, thinking, “The day we have been hoping for is finally coming! God has heard our prayers! God loves us and has not abandoned us!” What would be the consequences of spreading such topics during gatherings? Would it affect everyone’s emotions? People would be unable to reject it, even if they wanted; every sentence of the rumor would strike at their hearts, making it impossible not to believe. People are most likely to believe these words; even if they are not one hundred percent sure, they still wish it were true, thinking, “Reflecting on how many hardships we have endured following God—being rejected by the world, hounded by the government, persecuted by the religious community, barely able to breathe, living in constant fear—when will these days end? Now, the day of God has finally arrived!” These thoughts make your heart surge: “We have expended so much of ourselves for God, our faith in following God is so resolute; that which we are hearing must be true. We should no longer wander and suffer in this world—we deserve to not do that!” When you have this thought, and you are so convinced and passionate about this rumor, do you still want to read God’s words? At this point, doesn’t reading any passage of God’s words seem superfluous? You feel: “Why is it that sharing experiential understanding of God’s words seems so unnecessary now? There is no need to pray to God anymore, right? The day of God has come, and we will soon meet God face to face, so wouldn’t praying to God now mean that we do not respect God? When living in the flesh, far from God, we needed to read God’s words to ease our longing. Now, we are about to transcend this world and will soon meet God in person, so there is no need to read God’s words. Nothing that we do now is as substantial as meeting God on that specific year, month, day, and time. What a wonderful thing it will be! Compared to meeting God on that day at that place, reading God’s words seems so insignificant.” You can’t concentrate on reading God’s words anymore. Your heart has become restless, yearning for that day to come right away! Isn’t this mood difficult to express? Such rumors are very appealing to popular tastes and can very easily spread within the church. One person spreads them to two, two tell ten, and the rumors spread more and more, from one church to two churches, from two churches to five, spreading wider and wider. What are the consequences? These rumors cause people to doubt God, distance themselves from God, forget God’s true love in saving humankind, forget the duty they should do, and forget the way they should follow. Instead, they single-mindedly pursue seeing God’s day arrive and seeing whether they can receive blessings. When that day actually comes and nothing happens, only then do people realize that believing in rumors has caused harm to their life. Can you then return to how you were before, comporting yourself in a well-behaved manner, holding to your duty, pursuing the truth with both feet on the ground, seeking the truth principles in all things, and comporting yourself and doing your duty according to God’s words? The time will have already passed and cannot be recovered. Who is to blame for this? Blame yourself for never having been someone who pursues the truth. You’ve had your head in the clouds and, as a result, have fallen for rumors.

For those who believe in God but do not understand the truth, a single rumor can lead them into a fathomless abyss and ruin them. What is meant by a fathomless abyss? Originally, you had a normal belief in God and had hope of being saved, but a single rumor has led you astray. Without realizing it, you’ve been misled by Satan, you’ve believed the devilish words spoken by Satan and you’ve followed it. You walk and pursue according to the path Satan has laid out for you, and the further you go, the darker your heart becomes, and the further you stray from God. When you have completely left and rejected God, you not only have doubts about God in your heart, but more seriously, you develop complaints about God and denial of God. When you reach this point, isn’t it the end of the road for you? Isn’t this the fathomless abyss? Is this something you want to see? When you reach this point, can you still attain salvation? No, and it is very difficult to turn back. Why? Because God has stopped working, the Holy Spirit has stopped working, and you are filled with darkness. A high wall has been erected between you and God. What is this wall? It is the notions, imaginings, and rumors that Satan has instilled in you, and personal desires. Your knowledge about the positive things, such as God’s identity, essence, status and so on, suddenly becomes blurred and even gradually disappears. This is very frightening. Isn’t this falling into the fathomless abyss? (Yes.) When you fall into this situation, can you still endure hardship and pay a price to do your duty? Can you still walk the path of pursuing the truth to attain salvation? I tell you, it is very difficult to turn back. This is being led astray! Just one rumor, if you are not careful for a moment and become misled, can have unimaginable results. Therefore, when such rumors about God’s work appear in the church, they should be promptly stopped and restricted. One must not fabricate things out of thin air, and one must not concoct all sorts of lies that people like to hear, in order to mislead them and lure them away from the right path. Even if people like these topics, what good does it do for one to focus on them in one’s heart and spread them? What benefit can be gained? Some people say, “That person can say whatever they want, since it’s their mouth. So, let them speak as they wish.” That depends on what is being said. If it is something that edifies people, it can be said and it can be spread—it can be spread in any way. But these rumors do not edify people in the slightest; they only mislead people and divert their attention, disturb their pursuit and make them stray from the right path, affect their relationship with God, affect their normal performance of their duty, and affect the normal order of the church’s work. Once people accept these rumors, it is like being trapped in a maze from which they cannot escape. So, when you hear these rumors, if someone tells them to you alone, you should reject them. If they speak them among others, you should not only reject them but also expose and dissect them—don’t let more people be misled. Especially in the case of those who have been believers for only one or two years, or two or three years, they still cannot see through matters of destination, meeting with God, and being raptured, they have not yet developed an interest in the truth, and have no path for pursuing the truth and pursuing dispositional change in their faith. In such situations, they are the most easily misled and influenced by these rumors, and once they’re misled, the consequences are unimaginable. It is like consuming poison; even if there is an antidote, hasn’t the damage to your body still been done? Even if you survive, can the suffering and damage to your body be ignored? Therefore, when faced with these rumors, you must discern and reject them, neither treating them as stories nor as real events. Some people are particularly interested in these rumors and disseminate and spread them everywhere, sharing them with others as if they were the truth. What is the nature of this? Isn’t this acting as servants of Satan? Such people should be pruned and warned. If they do not repent, they should be cleared out. If, at some point, they come to their senses and say, “It was wrong to spread rumors; I was acting as a servant of Satan, and I will never spread them again,” then they can be subjected to observation: If they repent and show good behavior, they can be provisionally accepted back into the church. If they relapse, they should then be cleansed away.

The rumors about God’s work are not limited to these. People use their imaginings and notions, as well as their minds, to analyze and scrutinize; they scrutinize God’s words and various prophecies, as well as various disasters, signs, and occurrences in society and the world, even relying on their dreams to freely remark upon God’s work—they fabricate many rumors. Many people do not regularly read God’s words, or regularly put effort into the truth, much less do they regularly put effort into seeking principles in doing their duties. Instead, they ponder questions like, “How did God’s appearance and work begin? Who started it all? What role did people play? What events occurred?” They scrutinize these external phenomena, and the church’s administrative structure, personnel, and so on. After all this scrutinizing, they summarize it all and come up with some so-called rules or phenomena and spread them in the church as if they were the truth. When spreading them, they describe them in a vivid and thorough manner, and those without discernment might even think they are discussing God’s work. However, those with discernment think, “Aren’t you spouting nonsense and releasing heresies and fallacies? Aren’t you judging God’s work? This isn’t sharing understanding and experiences—it’s unrelated to the truth. This is fabricating rumors and must be stopped immediately; otherwise, some people will be misled!” These fallacies and heresies, which qualify as rumors, do not align with the truth and disturb people’s understanding of the truth. When the act of spreading rumors appears in the church, it should be promptly stopped.

There are also some rumors that amount to devilish words judging God’s work. For example, regarding whom God loves, whom He saves, and whom He makes perfect, some people, applying their own petty cleverness, observe and summarize, saying, “Those in the world who are capable, and those who have served as officials, and those who have been department heads or CEOs in enterprises, when they come to God’s house, directly become leaders or immediately take charge of general affairs and finances. These people are the ones God makes perfect.” Isn’t this fabricating rumors? This is indeed fabricating rumors. What is a rumor? It is talking irresponsibly, making blind judgments, and drawing unfounded conclusions, in a manner that is out of line with the facts; these words are all rumors. Other people say, “So-and-so made an offering of tens of thousands of yuan. Their faith is great, they can enter the kingdom.” This causes those without money to become negative and feel distressed; they say, “Although I have also made quite a few offerings, it doesn’t add up to as much as what they offered in one go. Does this mean I cannot be saved and made perfect? Does God not want someone like me?” Others who fabricate rumors then say, “The rich cannot enter the kingdom; God wants the poor.” Those poor people then become happy: “Although I haven’t offered much money, I can still enter the kingdom, while the rich are left out.” Whatever those who fabricate rumors say, it influences the poor people one way or the other; they cannot see through the fact that it’s all just rumors and devilish words. Why is this? It is because they do not understand the truth and lack discernment, so they are constantly misled. Both those who fabricate rumors and those who spread them are all devils. No matter how much they say, you don’t know which words are true and which are false, where exactly these words come from, what exactly their motives are in spreading these words, and what goals they hope to achieve. If someone cannot see through these things and blindly accept and spread the rumors, doesn’t that make them a fool? Isn’t a fool also called a scoundrel? Although this word is inelegant, I find it quite fitting. Why is it fitting? Because such people speak irresponsibly. They casually spread rumors, recklessly drawing conclusions and fabricating rumors based on certain phenomena, and then casually spreading these rumors and describing them plausibly as if they were real events—as a result it affects and disturbs some people. They do not read God’s words or understand the truth; they spend their days spreading rumors and talking nonsense in the church. Today, they see someone making a lot of offerings and say that person can be saved. Tomorrow, they see someone who has been imprisoned and didn’t become a Judas, and they say, “That person is of one heart with God. They can enter the kingdom and have a good destination. In the future, they will govern twenty cities in God’s house; we mere foot soldiers cannot compare with them.” Isn’t this devilish talk? Aren’t these rumors? (Yes.) Regardless of the motives and goals of the people who say these words, won’t such words affect and disturb some people? Some people have had little faith, and when they hear these rumors and devilish words, they start to ponder: “Can I be saved? Does God delight in me?” In their hearts they think about these things all day, wavering and worrying about them. Because of the baseless nonsense of those who fabricate rumors, they feel they have no hope of being saved, so they come before God and pray: “Don’t You love me, God? I have forsaken so much for You. When will I be able to satisfy You?” They have a bellyful of grievances. Nothing has happened, so where do these grievances come from? They are caused by those rumors—these individuals have been poisoned and have fallen. They do not feel any remorse or guilt for whatever corrupt dispositions they reveal or whatever transgressions they have committed, never crying because of this—not even a single tear—but when they hear those who fabricate rumors say that people like them have no hope of being saved, they immediately feel distressed. Have they not been affected? They have been affected and disturbed. These people are immature in stature, do not understand the truth, and are very foolish. Those who fabricate rumors see such people as easy to toy with and so fabricate some rumors to dupe them. Today, they say you have hope of being saved, and you are happy; tomorrow, they say you have no hope of being saved, and you cry and feel distressed. Why do you listen to them? Why are you always constrained by them? Do they have the final say? At most, they are just buffoons. Even their fate is in God’s hands, so what qualifications do they have to evaluate others? What qualifications do they have to say who can and cannot be saved, or what kind of people can and cannot be made perfect? Do they understand the truth? Which of their words aligns with God’s intentions and God’s words? Not one of their words aligns with God’s words, so why do you believe them? Why are you disturbed by them? Isn’t this caused by foolishness? (Yes.) Whether this is because of foolishness and ignorance or because your stature is too small and you don’t understand the truth, in any case, those who spread rumors in the church are the most detestable. They should be discerned, exposed, and then restricted or cleared out.

Some people say, “Look at So-and-so, with those well-proportioned features of his; he was chosen to be a church leader. So-and-so thrives in society, everyone who sees her likes her; after she has come to believe in God, the brothers and sisters also like her, and God likes her too.” Is there a single correct statement in these words? (No.) Why? (They don’t conform to the truth.) Correct, these words don’t conform to the truth, they’re all devilish talk. Some say, “So-and-so’s family is rich, has good living conditions, and they are knowledgeable. So, in God’s house, they handle finances and general affairs. They are useful and can take on this duty. This is God’s ordination.” Does adding “God’s ordination” make this statement conform to the truth? Is this not devilish talk? Such devilish talk is collectively called rumors. Any irresponsible statements that do not conform to facts, that contradict the facts ordained by God, are reckless words and arbitrary conclusions; such statements are all rumors. Why characterize them as rumors? Because these statements, once released, will disturb and damage some people’s normal mindset and pursuit goals, they are characterized as rumors. According to God’s words, God only says that people’s birthplace, family background, appearance, level of education, and so on are ordained by God; He has never told people that the appearance, social background, or inherent conditions of any category of people are conditions for being blessed. The only standard God requires of people is that they be able to pursue the truth and achieve submission to God. This is the most important. If God’s words do not explicitly state something, and it is merely the product of people’s subjective imaginations or their speculations, such statements are also considered rumors. People always want to judge whether someone can be blessed through their observations and understanding, and additionally based on their own notions and imaginings. Then, they release these fallacies to influence others’ pursuit of the truth, arbitrarily deciding who can be saved and who cannot, who are the people of God, and who are laborers. These are all rumors. Regarding rumors, we can also call them devilish words. Regardless of what kind of rumors or devilish words appear, the church leaders should promptly come forward to stop and restrict them; of course, if any brothers and sisters have discernment, they should also step forward to dissect and discern where the rumors come from and what their nature is. When these brothers and sisters gain an understanding of these things, they can stand up to refute and dispute these rumors, and also restrict those spreading the rumors, collectively railing against them. How should they do this? By openly denouncing those people in front of everyone: “What you are saying is all rumors and devilish talk, it does not conform to God’s words, nor does it conform to our needs. If you continue to spread rumors despite the admonitions, we will clear you out, leaving you with no opportunity to fabricate rumors and cause disturbances in the church!” How is this practice? (Good.) Doing it like this conforms to the truth principles. If you fellowship your personal experiential understandings, saying things that edify people, then however you speak is fine. You can use any words you like, whether formal or colloquial language; it’s all permissible. The only thing you may not do is spread rumors.

E. The Harm That Baseless Rumors Cause

The rumors that get spread within the church are not just about denying God or judging God’s work; there are also other types of rumors. These rumors need to be discerned and dissected, and they should also be stopped and restricted. In short, rumors are definitely nothing good; they bring no benefit to people. Some people say, “I want to listen to the rumors to see just what they are saying, to gain discernment and wisdom from them.” If you truly have some discernment ability and are not afraid of being disturbed by rumors, you can listen, but what will be the consequences? If you become confused and start doubting God and God’s work, then that’s dangerous; it means you have been misled. If you can’t discern and instead get misled, isn’t that troublesome? Do you have that stature? You think you have faith, but do you understand the truth? If you don’t understand the truth, your faith is not genuine, and you will still be misled. If you understand some truth, have some genuine knowledge of God, and can discern and resist these rumors, then you can gain wisdom from listening to them. If you think you just have faith, but in fact, this faith is not yet genuine stature, and you do not yet understand the truth, then I say it will be very difficult for you to really gain discernment and wisdom from rumors. Where do rumors come from? They come from Satan. Satan exploits every loophole and seizes every opportunity to be picky about the phrases used in God’s words and to find something it can use as leverage in God’s words, taking God’s words out of context. It seems to have a basis, but in fact, this is done out of context to mislead people. After hearing these rumors, those who do not understand the truth think to themselves: “What they say has a basis in God’s words. It should be right. It can’t be a rumor, can it?” As a result, they are misled. Some rumors are obvious and easy to discern. However, some rumors are hard to discern; on the surface, they seem to align with facts, but their essence is not so. Don’t think that just because these rumors superficially align with the literal meaning of God’s words, they are correct. In fact, many of these statements are empty theories, they are traps, and they bring no edification or benefit to people. These statements should all be rejected. Because the extent to which people understand God’s words varies, and the contexts in which God speaks are also different, blindly applying and interpreting God’s words is what is most likely to cause errors. Satan often misleads people by taking God’s words out of context and misinterpreting them. Any condemnations of God’s work based on the Bible or God’s words are Satan’s trickery, its means of misleading people; they are traps, and such statements should all be rejected. On the surface, rumors are just one or two remarks, or a few remarks; they are insufficient to be feared, and are nothing to be afraid of. What is to be feared is rumors that draw conclusions based on the Bible or the truth taken out of context. This is what is most capable of misleading people; it is what most disturbs people’s minds. It will cause people without discernment to stumble. Only those who understand the truth can discern such misleading devilish talk. For example, some people find some of God’s words to use as a basis to say that God loves this type of people and does not love that type, that God saves this type of people and does not save that type, that this type of people are eliminated by God, and that type mean nothing to God, and so on and so forth. Aren’t these statements conclusions? These conclusions actually do not conform to God’s words. The bases they find are actually taken out of context; they belong to different contexts and they are different statements. This is absolute misinterpretation. They do not see through to the essence, and they apply regulations arbitrarily. But those without discernment get poisoned and misled after hearing these fallacies, becoming negative in their hearts, thinking that since what was said is based on God’s words, it must be accurate. They do not carefully read God’s words afterward to find the flaws in these fallacies, instead fully believing they are true. Aren’t they being misled? If no one who understands the truth fellowships with them, it is very dangerous. At the very least, these people could become negative for six months to a year; it not only delays their life entry, but if they withdraw and stop believing, they will be completely ruined and lose God’s salvation entirely. Therefore, people with small stature who do not understand the truth are at great risk of being misled by Satan! Only those who understand the truth are safe and stable. If one day you really encounter someone spreading rumors to mislead people, the most effective way is to quickly find someone who understands the truth to fellowship with; only then can you be rescued from this situation. Seeking help from those without spiritual understanding who blindly apply regulations will not only fail to resolve the problem but will also mislead you further. So, being misled is not something that only happens in religion—even if you believe in God and live church life, if you do not pursue the truth, you can still be easily misled. Even if you have believed for three to five years, or seven to eight years, if you haven’t gained the truth, then you are still at risk of being misled; in particular, those who often have notions and are often negative are most liable to be misled and can betray God at any time. For Satan roams the earth like a roaring lion, seeking people to devour; this is a fact. Who is this Satan? It is all those who are averse to the truth and hate the truth, including antichrists, false leaders, those absurd people, and those who mislead others—these all amount to Satan. These people roam everywhere, misleading and disturbing God’s chosen people wherever they go, so they are all devils resisting God. God’s chosen people should be particularly vigilant to ensure they are not misled and can stand firm.

It is undeniable that in the church some new believers or those of extremely poor caliber, who do not have the ability to comprehend God’s words, are often misled, influenced, and disturbed by various rumors. Those who fabricate rumors can easily bring down a group of people with a casual conclusion. The words and statements they recklessly blurt out can make some people negative, weak, and unwilling to do their duty. When God’s house calls, these people are full of fears, finding various reasons and excuses to refuse and evade. Clearly, what role do those who fabricate rumors play in the church? They act as Satan’s servants, without a doubt. For example, some people say, “You need to have a backup plan when doing your duty. God’s house calls you to do a duty, and if you do not do it well, God’s house could stop using you at any time. At that time, if you go home, you’ll have a hard time getting by. No one will support you then!” Does this sound “heartwarming”? It conforms to human sentiments and sounds quite loving and thoughtful, but do you detect any consideration for God’s heart within these words? Do they offer any support, supply, help, or encouragement to people? (No.) Telling people to prepare a backup plan—isn’t this holding them back? What do they mean by this? “You have to be wary; God might turn against you!” This is the poison they plant in people. After hearing this, people think, “That’s right, how could I have been so foolish? I almost sold my house—if I didn’t do my duty well and got dismissed, I wouldn’t even have a home to go back to. Thankfully, they reminded me, otherwise I would have done something stupid.” What a “kind” reminder, but there is quite a lot of poison in it, and it runs deep! Have you heard such rumors? They sound like they’re being so good to people, so considerate, with such great “love.” These people are neither relatives nor friends with those they talk to, there isn’t any blood relation between them—it’s just because they all believe in God that these people can have such great “love” for those they talk to. People think, “This is really God’s protection! I’d better think things over first, then. If I’m always perfunctory when I go to do my duty, what would I do if I get sent away? So, when I do my duty, I need to be cautious; I should do more work that makes me look good, avoid making mistakes, and even if I do make mistakes, I can’t let others find out. That way, I won’t get sent away, right? Even if I do get sent away, it’s fine; I have a backup plan, I have savings, and my house is still there. Isn’t it just that God isn’t considerate of people’s feelings and doesn’t go by fleshly feelings? Regardless, what is there to fear? People go by their feelings, there is love everywhere in the human world!” This one “heartwarming” statement creates “friendship” among people, but where does it put God? It makes God a third or fourth priority, it makes Him an outsider, as if God is not trustworthy and only people are worth trusting, only people are considerate of others. This one statement produces such a significant effect, it’s so “timely”! Do you like hearing such words? Although you know there is malice hidden in their words, you still hope someone can give you a hint, can help you, can give you a warning from someone who has been there when you don’t know what lies ahead, can say a heartfelt word to you. This statement is so “crucial,” so “important”! Isn’t this completely buying into their words? The “thoughtless” words of this rumor-fabricator have bought people and sold God out. How is this action? Is it decent? (No.) What kind of person would you say this is? In people’s eyes, they are a good person, a kind person, but in the eyes of those who understand the truth, this person is a muddler. Judging from their actions and behavior, they completely act as Satan’s servant, they are a genuine devil! Is saying this accurate? (Yes.) It is very accurate! It’s not the slightest bit off. They draw everyone into guarding against God, opposing God, and they do not say a single word that can edify people. Why don’t they? Because their heart is full of hostility and hatred toward God, their nature essence is that of Satan, and they inherently resist God and stand in opposition to Him. Some people say, “They inherently stand in opposition to God, so why do they still follow God?” To gain blessings! They want to finagle the outcome of being blessed from God’s house, yet they don’t want to pay any price or pursue the truth. They also want to undermine God, disturb God’s chosen people, and make them distance themselves from God and betray God. Such a person is undoubtedly a genuine devil. But some foolish people always fail to see through and recognize such people’s devilish faces. They can accept all the devilish words that align with human notions and the needs of fleshly feelings that these people say. Under the misleading of these people, they could betray and reject God at any moment—even if they don’t want to reject Him, it is beyond their control. Satan, devils, and Satan’s servants are so insidious and deceitful! They themselves resist God and stand in opposition to Him, they loathe the truth and do not accept it, and they even want to prevent more people from following God and pursuing the truth. In God’s house, these people play the role of being a conduit for Satan, speaking and acting for Satan. They serve as foils, specially used for people to grow in discernment. So, many of the things they say may not seem overly problematic on the surface. They even often quote God’s words, finding some evidence and sayings in God’s words, and then add some embellishment, making it seem like what they say greatly conforms to God’s words. But one thing is certain: What they say is contrary to the truth. When you hear what they say, it might seem right, but if you carefully compare it with God’s words, you can discern that it fundamentally does not conform to the truth. All those specious words they speak come from Satan. They are testing God, trying to find leverage from within God’s words, misinterpreting God’s words to condemn God and mislead God’s chosen people, causing them to speculate about, misunderstand, betray, and reject God, and so on. Therefore, aside from antichrists and evil people, those who fabricate rumors to mislead others are also a category of people in the church who should be discerned, guarded against, and cleared out.

F. Discerning People Who Spread Baseless Rumors and the Principles for Handling Them

How should we discern those in the church who fabricate rumors to mislead others? First, those who fabricate rumors absolutely do not pursue the truth; they are averse to it. Additionally, they often fabricate all sorts of devilish words and absurd statements and use them to mislead and draw in some brothers and sisters who are of small stature, have shallow foundations, and do not understand the truth. The effect they achieve is disturbing and damaging the normal order of church life, disturbing people’s normal pursuit and making them stray from the right path, making people negative and weak, and even causing them to abandon their duties and stop believing in God—this makes them even happier. Therefore, calling those who fabricate rumors Satan’s servants is a perfectly accurate description; this is the true face and the substance of such people, and it is easy to discern. Some people have a bit of reason; although they do not love the truth themselves, they do not express opinions about or interfere with how others pursue the truth. These people can be ignored. But some people envy and hate those who pursue the truth; they always judge and attack them while harboring certain intentions, and even seize leverage with which to condemn them. Such people should be guarded against. Although what these people say may sound quite right, logical, and in line with the literal meaning of God’s words, upon careful discernment, it is mostly lies and rumors, purely nonsense. These specious rumors and lies should be discerned. Some people say, “I have only believed in God for a short time, have read little of God’s words, and do not understand the truth. How can I discern rumors and lies?” The only way is, from today onward, to focus more on reading God’s words and to seek the truth in God’s words more, letting God’s words take root in your heart. With the guidance of God’s words and viewing matters according to the truth, you will have discernment. The rumors spread by these people will have no effect on you and will not disturb your normal pursuit. No matter what rumors they discuss or what nonsense they speak, you will not be shaken after hearing it, nor will you become negative and weak, or much less have any misunderstandings about God; you will just focus on pursuing in the right direction. This means that you have resistance—such servants of Satan will no longer have any effect in the church. There is no shortcut to learning how to discern rumors. The only way is to listen to sermons more, read God’s words more, and fellowship the truth more. When you attain an understanding of the truth, you will naturally have discernment. What is the purpose of reading God’s words and fellowshipping the truth? It is to understand the truth and discern those rumors and fallacies through reading God’s words. If you see that those rumors contradict and go against God’s words, being completely contrary to the truth, those rumors will collapse on their own. Of course, some people say, “I haven’t put in the effort to read God’s words and don’t understand just what the truth in God’s words is. I just remember one thing: In terms of conducting myself, I have to follow the crowd. Whatever most people reject, I also reject; whatever most people accept, I also accept. I just follow the crowd.” Is this correct? (No.) Sometimes the crowd is also wrong, and following the crowd means making mistakes with them. You must learn to follow those who understand the truth; only this is a good way.

Spreading baseless rumors is something that often happens in the church. Although this issue is not a major problem, its disturbance and harm to God’s chosen people are not small. At the least, it can make people negative and weak; at worst, it can cause people to distance themselves from God and even betray Him. Therefore, the spreading of rumors cannot be ignored. Once it happens in the church, it should be promptly stopped and restricted. If the church leaders are numb and dull-witted, unable to do real work, and cannot detect this issue, but some people with good caliber who pursue and understand the truth do detect it, then the latter group should step up to resolve this issue. Through seeking and fellowshipping with many people to reach a consensus and obtain confirmation, once it is determined that rumors are being spread, people should seek the truth to resolve the issue. If it is not clear that a certain remark is a fallacy, do not blindly label it. For remarks that are obvious and unmistakable, that are easily discernible as rumors and fallacies, they should be promptly exposed and dissected so everyone can discern them. If you cannot discern whether what someone says is a rumor or fallacy after hearing them speak one or two sentences, you should handle it cautiously and not blindly draw conclusions. Wait until they finish speaking to discern clearly. Once it is confirmed to be a rumor or fallacy, this person should be promptly stopped and restricted. If repeated admonitions and restrictions fail to restrict them, and they continue to persistently spread rumors, they should be cleared out of the church. Is the principle and path clear on what to do and how to practice when discovering someone spreading rumors in the church? (Yes.)

The content of rumors does not just involve the major issues I mentioned; there are also some rumors that are just little bits and pieces, such as remarks about pruning, or about whom God’s house uses and whom it eliminates, and other untrue statements. Before the church is thoroughly cleansed, there are false leaders, antichrists, various evil people, muddled people, blockheads who do not have spiritual understanding—there are all kinds of people in it. Liars and fabricators of rumors are a common sight, and there are all kinds of rumors and devilish talk among the people. Regarding these rumors, for one thing, people need to have normal reason to judge them; for another, for more serious rumors involving God’s work, God’s management plan, God Himself, and even the administrative decrees of God’s house and other matters, people need to have the truth to discern these. For external matters, people need to have the reason of normal humanity to judge them. For matters involving God’s work and the truth, people need to have the truth reality and stature to discern them. In short, regardless of the type of rumors, people should discern and reject them, not accept them. Of course, some people do not pursue the truth and just live by these rumors. Today, someone spreads a saying and it stirs the wind one way, and these people follow it. Tomorrow, another saying stirs the wind another way, and they then follow that. For example, some leader or worker says that those who can write testimonial articles can be made perfect, so they practice writing articles, study writing, and look up resources. The next day, another leader or worker says that those who do their duty can be saved, so they start busying themselves with doing duty. But no matter how busy they get, they are never anxious about or interested in the most important matter: pursuing the truth and life entry. The various wicked trends formed among the different groups in the church always sweep away some people. The various rumors generated among the church members always mislead and influence some people. However, there are also some people who remain indifferent and do not pay attention to these rumors which they hear. They take no notice of whatever work God’s house is doing; they are not interested in believing in God and are not true believers. These people are nominal believers. There is another group of people who are somewhat better; they can seek the truth and accept the truth, so they are not affected by these negative things and negative people. Only those with small stature, without a foundation, and who do not pursue the truth at all are always influenced by different sayings and remarks. Because these people always follow along, there are always some who fabricate various rumors to stir the pot. They feel that only this makes believing in God lively and exciting, and not dull, and it is the only way for them to feel important. These things often occur among new believers. If a church is overrun with the spreading of rumors and people being misled, it means there are definitely too few people who understand the truth in that church. In the church, those aforementioned people follow whatever rumors and whatever incitements those with ulterior motives cook up, which is very troublesome. This is partly due to poor caliber and is also a genuine manifestation of not understanding the truth. Most of what anyone who does not understand the truth says is not practical and is mixed with impurities; strictly speaking, it all amounts to lies. If it carries motives and purposes, then it is not just a lie but even more so a scheme of Satan and a conspiracy of evil people. Therefore, most of what people without the truth say is devilish talk and is not to be believed.

That concludes the fellowship on the topic of spreading baseless rumors. This matter of spreading rumors is the most revealing of people, and it allows the behaviors of different people to be clearly seen. You should now understand what attitude to have toward rumors and those who spread them, and what methods to use to handle them, right? (Right.) Once you understand, when you encounter such matters again, you should compare them against our fellowship, and use the most correct methods to address these issues. This conforms to the principles.

July 17, 2021